Transport bosses say “lessons have been learnt” from last year when the system became clogged up as runners and loved ones tried to make their way home from the finish line.

After this year’s run, Disney-like boards will be on display at South Shields Metro station informing commuters of approximate waiting times from their position in the queue, while there will also be “entertainment close by”.

Metro operators DB Regio have said there will also be 50% more trains to cope with an expected 85,000 passengers, compared to the 68 trains which quickly filled up last year.

Pictures tweeted by Kerry Wood and John Barker of chaos on the Metro before the Great North Run

Runners and spectators struggled to get onto packed trains and queued for hours to get into stations as aftermath of 2015’s showpiece descended into chaos.

Chris Carson, operations director at DB Regio, said: “I can assure everyone that lessons have been learnt from last year.

“In recent months we have successfully delivered a good service for large scale events at the Stadium of Light and the Sunderland International Airshow.

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“Planning for this year’s event has been under way for many months and we are confident that the measures put in place will enable us to provide a good service ensuring the safe travel of our customers on run day.”

He added: “There will be queuing systems in place at South Shields Metro station after the run, we’ll keep people informed with approximate waiting times and will have staff in the queue selling Metro tickets.

“We will clear the queues as quickly as possible but it will take time. There will be entertainment close by to help pass the time and we would ask for customers to remain patient.”

Emmie tweeted this picture of West Jesmond saying " Expect delays of up to 20mins if you're traveling to town/the finish line" (Image: Emmie / Twitter)

On the day - Sunday, September 11 - there will be additional Metro services running until around 7pm, with trains running every seven-and-a-half minutes to and from South Shields.

Some stations will be temporarily closed before and after the run to help with the movement of passengers, improve crowd control and manage the queues.

These include: Haymarket, which will be exit only from 8am until the start of the race; Jesmond, which will close from 10.40am until early afternoon; and Chichester, which will close at 3pm until later in the evening.